Flue-sheet cleaner



Nov. 1, 1927.

' INVENTOR w D W0 0!) FLim swam CLEANER Filed Aug. 20 1921 A TTOR'NEYS 7Patented Nov. 1, 1927.

. WALTER \DONGAN woon, or LLEnTovvis, Pn'NNsYLvANie,nssreribn,BY MEsN-nes- SIG-NMENTS, o FULLER EHIGPr COMPANY, A oonrona'r on' or. DELAWARE,

BLUE-SHEET CLEANER,-

. Application filed August so, 1921. Serial No; 493,857.

This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning the flue sheet ofaboiler, and in particular involves the provision of an apparatusof-this Character utilizing high pressure or live steam for removing orpreventing1the accumulation of fused ash, known as honeycomb,'or othersubstances which adhereto the flue sheet particularly in boilers usingpulverized fuel. -10 In practice it is found that the tendency ,forhoneycomb to form on theflue'sheet of a boiler firedby pulverized fuelis quite a marked, especially where the boiler is op-' erated athighrates of evaporation as is ]5.usual for instance in locomotives inwhich,

in additionto severe working conditions involving large fuelconsumption, the'fire box is necessarily small so that the particles offused ash reach the flue sheet before they can be solidified by coolingand so, bein in the molten condition, adhere to thesurface of the fluesheet. The honeycomb formation resulting from this deposit of moltenslagbuildsv up more rapidly in the vicinity of 1 the boiler tubes, theparticles settlingat the junction betweenthe flue sheet-and the boilertubes and building up in the inlet openings, of the tubes so0n cloggingor completely] blockingithem' to the passage [of the furnace-l gases,thus decidedly lowering the efliciency of theboiler. This trouble iswidely eX- perienced in pulverized fuel boiler practice both instationary and locomotive boilers, and the present practice is to removethe accumulations of slag or honeycomb by meansof a long bar or a handoperated steam lance after the honeycomb has. accumulated 'toan amountwhere boilertubes are badly clogged or stopped up and attention must v10 be given to the removal of the (honeycomb because of loweredboilerj'efficiency.

The lnvention provides apparatus niovlng a deposit of honeycombbyutilizing high pressure or. live steam from the boiler or othersourcewhich is directed, preferably? in the form of jets, against thehoneycomb deposit onthe surface of the flue sheet as, 1often'as may berequired-,andwhile' the.

' boiler is in full operation. j i r In, the preferredform'of embodimentof v a the invention, the apparatus includes meansfor admitting steamtooneof the fines-of .the. boiler, in which flue; there is mounted 5 adevice having a movable partwhich :is.

the flue and, preventing dust and gasesfrom cnte'rlng the flue, thuspreventing accumulations of solid materialwhich would prevent forvconducting steam through certain of the t v fiues or boiler:tubes 1Q tothe flue sheet 19' forinot only preventing the accumulation but alsoreflues so as to cause the end-of. each of the elements toprojectoutsidethe end of the forced out of tlie flueby steam "p essure;This-gmovable part is provided with;

steam orifices through which thesteam ajd- 1 mitted to the flue escapesin the: form, of ets directed against the fluefsheet.= Preferably thismovable part takes the form of .a'hollow plunger provided with means bywhich the plunger is normally held within the flue spaced from the-endthereof, and the plunger is exposed to the pressure of the steamadmittedto the flue and "forced out of the flue to a position in which theorifices permit the 'escapeof the steam; In addition, themechanismincludes means lying within the operation of the plunger, andthe device also includesgmeans within theflue which close theorificesw'hen the plunger is in re-' tracted position, thus preventingthe escape ofthe steam should the steam' not be entirely. cutofli. ;i'1' ,,For' a'better understanding of the'iinvention, reference will behad to 'thefaccompanying drawings, in which: I

- Fig. 1 is a sectionalrview of the apparatus,

Fig. 2.,isa view on the line 22 thereof,

one, form'of Figs, Sand 4 are views ofmodified forms of the apparatus. 1

Other features of th invention, f j .I ticularly specific featuresofconstructionin the preferredembodiments of the invention will appearfrom a description of these em-, I bodiments given hereinafter 'inconnection 7 with thedrawings. j,

In the apparatus illustrated the elements are actuated by the pressure,of the steamto move them rearwardly' or outwardly inthe flue in positionto permit' steam to issue therefromand sweep along the surface, ofthefiue sheet jto effect the'cleansing action.

tube in which, is a threaded opening 38 :for

receiving 11b8, threaded end of v the pipe 9. A Mounted,,withinthetubeis,asleeve"39 seoured therein byj means of welding as at 0 40.The sleeve :39 is of two diameters providing a shoulder 41, and has ascrew threaded connection with a plug 42 fitted i hin the ub Moun eWithin the sleeve is a plunger 3. aring a .fliingee between which andthe shoulder 41 of the sleeve is a coil spring 45 surrounding theoutside of the plunger. The rear end 46 of the plunger is open andaligns with an opening 47 in the plug 42, while the outer end 48 of theplunger is closed. Adjacent its closed 1ld48 the plunger is providedwith oircu-inferentially disposed orifices 50 which are inclined to theI 1 axis of the plunger and rearwardly thereof, as well asbeinginc'lined to the surface ofthe plunger. -When the fireman desiresto clean the flue sheet, heop'ensa valve controlling the flow of steamthrough the line 9. The steam passes through theopening 47 in the plug42 into the plunger 43 and the pressure of the steamgforces the plungerrearwardly or to the left in Fig.1, compressing the spring 45until theend of'thep'lunger and particularly the orifices therein project outsidethe tube to permit the escape of steam the plunger is protected againstburning out by prolonged subjection to the direct action of the heat ofthe fire box. Moreover, the plunger 43 and its flange 44 closely fit thecylinder Walls 49 of the sleeve 39 sot'hat the hot furnace gases areexcluded from those of the boiler tubes employed for the cleaningapparatus through which the gases would otherwise pass, and so the partsof the apparatus contained within the tubes are protected againstburning out by the action of the furnace gases, From the foregoing'de-'scription of the operation it will be seen that the action of theapparatus after the opening or closing of the valve 29 is entirelyautomatic.

-The modified forms of construction of parts of the cleaning apparatusillustrated in '3 and 4, correspond to those in Fig. 1 and are identicalin operation with the latter. Instead, however, of connecting the pipe 9directly with-a cap at the end of the boiler tube, in the form ofconstruction illustrated in Fig. 3 an extra piece of piping 51 isprovided which is threaded at one end into the plug 42 and is supportednear its opposite end by means of a retaining collar 52 which is weldedto the piping 51 as {Li/'53.

.The pipes 51 and 9 are joined by means of a coupling'54 and theretaining collar 52 is secured to the'fropt tube sheet'55 by means of ascrew and nut 56. In this construction both the sleeve 39 and the plug42 are loosely mounted within the tube, although closely fitting thelatter, the sleeve and plug belng adjusted to position within the tubeand repair from the forward end of the tube simply by disconnecting thepipes 51 and 9, and loosening the nut-and screw 56 holding the retainingcollar to the front tubesheet 55.

In Fig. 4, the construction and assembly of the parts are such that theplunger 43 and spring 45 may be removed for inspection and repair fromthe rear end ofthe tube 10, that is the end adj accnt the fluesheet. Thesleeve 39 made in two pieces, arear piece 39 and a front piece 39 havingscrew threaded connection as at '57. The outer end of the piece 39 isprovided with notches 58 for receiving a wrench which may be inserted inthe end of the tube for disconnecting the pieces 39 and 39 The inner endof the iece 39 rovides a shoulder 59 a ainst which one end of the spring45 abuts, so that when this piece is removed the spring which holds theplunger 43 within the sleeve 89 is released and the plunger and springmay,

therefore, be takenoutr Here the pipe 9 is threaded directly into thethreaded front end of the piece 39 the pipe being adjust-ably supportedby a retaining collar 52 as in the I constructionillustrated in Fig- 3.I

In the operation of the steam conducting elements illustrated in Figs.1-4, when the plunger 43 is forced rearwardly or outwardly untiltheorifices 5O clear the end of the flue, steam issues from these orificesand is directed backwardly against the flue sheet 19 due to the backwardinclination of the orifices. In addition to this inclination, theorifices 50 are also inclined to the surface ofthe plunger, asillustrated in Fig. .2, and so when the plunger is advanced by the steampressure to its operative position outside the fine, and before itreaches this position the fit'between the plunger and, the forward cylfinstance the direction of rotation being counter clockwise as will beevident from Fig. 2. Thisslight rotating movement is given to theplunger each time it advances to operative positionjand, thus thejets'of steam will gradually be rotated through complete circlescovering the entire surface of the flue sheet within the zone of actionof the a steam jets. These jets issuing from the variousplungersdistributed at different points in the bank of boiler tubes,and havingrota tive movement imparted thereto, will intersect or combine to coverthe entire surface of the flue sheet and effectively cut and removetherefrom any deposit of honeycomb.

I claim: I 1. In a boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality of flues,the combination of a device mounted movably in a flue and normally lyingwithin the flue at a distance from the position when the steam pressureis off.

2. Inca boiler having a flue sheetand a plurality of flues, thecombination of a de vice mounted movably in a flue and normally lyingwithin the flue at a distance from the endthereof, a plurality oforifices formed near the end of the device, means in the flue for.closing the orifices when the device is in Its normal inner posltion,the sald means cooperating with the device to prevent the passage ofgases fromthe furnace through the flue, and means for introducing steamunder pressure into the device, the steam serving to move the device intheflue to a,

position in whichthe orifices lie beyond the flue sheet.

3. In a boiler havi'ng'aflue sheet and a I plurality of flues, thecombination of means for conducting steam to a flue of the boiler, adevice permanently mounted -within the flue and adapted to conduct steamtherethrough to the flue sheet, the device being movable out of the flueunder the action of the steam, orifices near the end of the device lyingbeyond the flue sheet when the device v 7 is in its exposed position andproviding outlets for the passageof steam which is directed therebyagainst the flue sheet, means within the flue for closing the orificeswhen the devices lies in its normal inner position," the said meanscooperating with the device to prevent the passage of gases from thefurnace through the flue, and means within the flue for restoring thedeviceto its normal retracted position within the flue. 4. In a boilerhaving a flue sheet and a plurality of flues, the combination of means i7 hold the plunger in the sleeve spaced infor admitting steam from theboiler to one i wardly from the end .ofthe flue, the plunger I havingits forward end closed and, being 'provided with a plurality of orificesfor the escape of steam formed in the side walls adjacent thisend, theseorifices being closed by thesleeve when the plunger lies'in normalposition within the flue. a a ,5. In' a boiler having a flue sheet and aplurality of flues, the combination of a v sleeve mounted in one of theboiler flues, a plunger'movably mounted in the sleeve and having aclosed end,'avplurality of apertures disposed in the side wall of theplunger and normally closed by the sleeve, and a pipe for admittingsteam to l-the interiors of the plunger to move the latter to a positionin which'said apertures are exposed beyond the endof the sleeve. 3 V

6.7 In a boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality of flues, thecombination of a sleeve mounted in one of theboiler flues, a plungermovably mountedin'the sleeve, a plurality of apertures formed in theside wall of the plunger and normallyv closed bythe sleeve, means foradmittingsteam to the interior of the plunger to move the latterto aposition in which said apertures are exposed beyond the end of thesleeve, and means within the sleeve. and tending to restore the plungerto normal position. a

' 7. In a'boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality'of flues, thecombination of a sleeve mounted 'in one of the boiler flues, ahollowplunger freely mounted within the sleeve and having'ai closed end,a plurality of apertures in the side wall of the plunger adja cent saidclosed end, these apertures being normally closed by the sleeveand/having the plunger, and means or admitting steam to the plunger tomovef the latter through In testimony whereof I affixmysignature.

WALTER DONGAN wool). I

an inclination with res ect to the axis of

